Local Politics

Denver Mayor Hancock in Wisconsin says Obama could lose Badger State

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, stumping in Wisconsin for President Obama over the weekend, got caught in a political battle over which candidate is turning out the early vote.

Hancock told the crowd at a Milwaukee rally on Sunday that Obama could lose the Badger State's 10 electoral votes because Republicans were beating Democrats in getting out the early vote, which began on Oct. 22.

"We have not turned out the vote early," Hancock was quoted as saying in an article about the rally that appeared in the Washington Examiner. "The suburbs and rural parts of Wisconsin — the Republican base — are voting. President Obama's base has yet to go vote. We've got to get our people to go vote."

Later, Democratic officials said Hancock was mistaken.

"That is not how we would characterize what is happening, but we appreciate the mayor coming out here for us," said Joe Zepecki, Obama's Wisconsin spokesman.

Wisconsin doesn't require registration by party, making it difficult to assess who is voting early. Political analysts must look at where the votes are coming from and make assumptions based on historic voting patterns.

Democrats are encouraged because the state's two counties that typically support their candidates already have seen large turnouts. Dane County — home of the University of Wisconsin in Madison — has had more than 32,000 votes cast.

And Milwaukee County has had 45,000 votes cast.

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Hancock spokeswoman Amber Miller said Wednesday night that the mayor "was proud to lend his voice and support to efforts to get out the vote in Milwaukee."

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